is anyone happy right now? - In direct reply, I am very happy with these moves.

No this isn't an overreaction thread. I'm just wondering what is everyone's thoughts right now?

Let's look at our team. We lose fil and Brunner which are negatives. Lose cleary and cola which are positive.

Gain Alfie and Weiss. So as of right now we are a worse team from last year.

Then to top it all off we could of had a much better player in fil for 5m or Vinny for 4.5m but we got stuck with Weiss for just over 4m?

Then the best part is bobby Ryan got traded for almost nothing. Nyquist, a 1st, and what any other younger prospect not named mantha, Sproul, oullet, mrazek and it would've been a done deal. Youre talking a no brainer of a deal. Ana gave him him for almost nothing they could be got so much more.

So I ask unless there's a more trades or signings(cleary makes us worse) what are everyone's reactions and thoughts right now.

Mine is I'm quite mad. Holland continues to let us down. And THE ONLY wah I see us making the playoffs is we need DAT z kronwall ericsson and Howard to play like like they did this year. As well as guys like Nyquist Anderson Tatar smith and dekeyser need to play major roles as well.

Weiss > Fil

Alfie > Brunner

How is the team worse off with these swaps?

The Wings are rebuilding and staying competitive. They lose Fil but picked up Weiss (who is an Eastern Conference vet). They lost Brunner and picked up a NHL HOF type player in Alfie (who is also an Eastern conference vet).

Im just happy Kenny is making moves that are positive. They arent the best moves ever, but they appear to be ones that will help us right now.

Letting Brunner/Flip/Cleary walk and adding Alfredsson/Weiss/Tatar in their spots is a HUGE upgrade. Alfredsson played 47 games last year and will play hard for us when its cup time. Weiss is a solid 75-80 game guy, usually. And Tatar is ready to jizz all over the NHL. I hope we keep Brunner and find a way to get Bert and Sammy permanently removed from our roster, but I wont cry if we have to wait another year to get rid of tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

Clarkson scored 30 goals once. Cheechoo once scored 56 goals, one season doesn't prove anything. Clarkson was extremely overpaid for a guy who is a 2nd-3rd line tweener.

Clearly you don't know much about the devils. Which is fair. Clarkson was on the checking lines until 2 years ago. Moved up and scored 30 while being a league hit leader. This year same pace. Would have been our leading scorer. been 1st or second on our team in hits as well. he is that good.

Clearly you don't know much about the devils. Which is fair. Clarkson was on the checking lines until 2 years ago. Moved up and scored 30 while being a league hit leader. This year same pace. Would have been our leading scorer. been 1st or second on our team in hits as well. he is that good.

Based on last seasons production he would be behind Brunner. Hes not that good, and definitely not worth anything over 4 million dollars let alone over 5 million.

Because we do so much of that! passing on Ryan for example. Nyquist and tatar will be lucky to score as many goals per season COMBINED as what Ryan does. he is a proven 30-35 goal per year guy.

Vinny LeCav to expensive. Signs with Philly for 4.5 million per year. Weiss sign with us for 4.9 million per year. over the last 4 years Vinny has produced 205 points in the regular season and Weiss produced 170. We are paying more money for LESS PRODUCTION!

Alfie-signs for 5.5 million. Clarkson signs for 5.2 million. Who is the better bet to score 30 goals in 2013/14? How about 14/15? 15/16? Again, more money for less production!

But next year we have a ton of money available. True. To spend on what? more over 35 forwards? That is our recent history. Pass on the big names-the few that make it and blow our money on nothing.

The Wings didn't pass on Ryan, they just weren't going to give up what Anaheim wanted for him. The Wings don't have a forward prospect that is as highly touted as Silferberg, we'd have to give up both Nyquist and Tatar to match that and even then probably another lower end prospect along with our 1st to get Ryan from Anaheim.

Personally I think Anaheim got the better of that deal, especially if Ryan doesn't re-sign with them.

I'd prefer Lecavalier to Weiss too, but its not like the Wings didn't try to get him, they just weren't willing to sign a long term deal with him. I would have done it, but I don't see the drop off from Lecavalier to Weiss being big enough for me to complain.

Clarkson was the 2nd worst signing of the entire FA period with only Boyd Gordon's deal being worse and even thats debateable since its only a 3 year deal.

Based on last seasons production he would be behind Brunner. Hes not that good, and definitely not worth anything over 4 million dollars let alone over 5 million.

Again you are wrong. Clarkson had 15 goals. Brunner had 12. datsyuk our team leader had 15 goals as well. Clarkson also had 84 hits which would have been second. Brunner had 20 hits btw. Big difference in players here.

Alfie is a STUD, great addition on it's own. Weiss > Flipulla at the price they signed for.

I don't think the Wings are much better, but the roster has been stagnant for years, getting fresh names on the roster is only a positive thing. The Wings still need Brunner though, and need to unload a couple forwards. They could of easily matched Ottawa's offer, the Wings have extra forwards and extra prospects.

Again you are wrong. Clarkson had 15 goals. Brunner had 12. datsyuk our team leader had 15 goals as well. Clarkson also had 84 hits which would have been second. Brunner had 20 hits btw. Big difference in players here.

Okay? He's still 2nd/3rd liner who averages 17 goals a season who got over 5 million.

Happy? No. Intrigued? Yes. I don't know enough about Weiss to form much of an opinion. It sounds as if it's a wash between him and Fil. Not sure I understand that except for the "change of scenery" argument.

As for Alfie (gawd, why do so many hockey players have childish nicknames?), it sounds as if he's got something to prove. He's a long-time vet and wants to win a Cup. Obviously he didn't think that was going to happen in Ott.

Wings offered Cleary 2.5 million for 3 seasons, GIVE THAT SAME DEAL TO BRUNNER.

The rumors are the Wings offered him 3 years, no dollar amount was stated but since 2.5 is the number all the experts are throwing out there, lets say they offered him 3 years at 2.5 or 2.25 and go with everyone's favorite canned statement "Holland Low Balled Him".

He still told them just before noon he wanted to test the market, at that point (with the taste of last years UFA period) I would have filled the roster as soon as I could too.

He can tell the Wings he wants to come back all he wants, once he tests the market all bets are off.

I know he told Holland he would have the chance to match or beat, but this kid is not the type of player that wields that big of a sword yet to do that!

"The more I know about people - the better I like my dog." - Mark Twain

"A wise man once told me, ‘Don’t argue with fools. Cause people from a distance can’t tell who is who'." Jay Z, Takeover

"When I was looking for a captain, I wanted a guy with the Red Wings crest tattooed on his chest," said former Detroit coach Jacques Demers, who named Yzerman captain in 1986. "Steve Yzerman was that guy."

“Told him if he wasn't ultra-competitive he couldn't come here. If he didn't bring it every day he couldn't come here, because he was going to hate it if he didn't, dislike the coach and dislike playing here.

“It's real straightforward. If you don't do it right, you're not happy here." Babcock

It's gonna take time for me to decide whether I'm happy about this off-season so far. I don't blame Filppula for sticking to his asking price, after all it is a business, but for everyone to be celebrating his departure when his replacement is a whopping $100k less per season is a bit ridiculous IMHO. Elsewhere, Alfredsson is an upgrade over Cleary, at least in terms of offensive production and the intangible "let's win the Cup for X veteran who has never won" factor. I'm not happy that Samuelsson scammed us out of a compliance buyout, I think we should just waive him and eat the cap hit. Also not happy about Brunner, nothing is official yet but it's sounding more and more likely that he's gone.

As of right now, I feel as though the Wings made some lateral moves, replacing players that I really liked with players that I could care less about. I also don't fault Holland for trades that the Wings may not have been able to make. Whatever else may happen, I'll be happy if Cleary and/or Samuelsson are not at our training camp. Ultimately I'm a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, so I'll support whoever is in the lineup.

Looking at next years free agent crop I'm actually happy we are resisting a lot of these big contracts. We are going to have over $20 million in cap space with 12 players signed and allow us to go after a couple big fish and make room for our young guys. Love the Alfie signing now!